Colorado Eagles break the ice in San Francisco

Secondary scorers help Colorado break through on road

By Sports Staff

Posted:
12/07/2012 11:03:31 PM MST

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- They haven't been playing like the worst road team in the ECHL, but it's really all about the record. And, heading into Friday night's game at San Francisco, the Colorado Eagles were the only team in the league without a road victory.

Nearly two months into the season, the Eagles finally shed that zero in the away win column, with Kyle Jones' fantastic effort in net backing up a solid offensive performance from all three forward lines in a 5-1 win against the Bulls at Cow Palace. Chad Costello scored twice for his 40th and 41st points of the season, but two goals from Ryan Schnell and another from Teegan Moore also played a factor in getting the monkey off the back.

Actually, it had become a silverback gorilla after eight games -- most of which the Eagles were in until the end.

"It's not like we've walked out of a lot of buildings this year saying, 'oh, we got blown out'. I think you can only really say that about our last game up at Idaho," head coach Chris Stewart said. "But it feels good to get that first win."

Getting additional scoring was crucial in the win, which helped the Eagles (9-10-1-2, 21 points) leapfrog the Bulls (9-13-1-2, 21) in the Western Conference standings. Moore was paired up with Riley Nelson and Kevin Ulanski in his return from a lengthy stint on injured reserve, and he scored the fourth goal of the contest in the second period.

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The Eagles built a solid lead with two power play goals to start. Midway through the first, Colorado found itself in a 5-on-3 situation for 1:23, and it took just 27 seconds for the top-scoring unit to punch one home as Costello fired in a puck from between the circles at 10:07.

Despite outshooting the Bulls 11-4 in the first period, the score remained 1-0 into the second frame. But Colorado exploded for three scores in that frame, taking a decisive 4-0 lead into the third. Schnell got the power play goal to make it 2-0 at 6:29, and Costello notched his second of the game at 15:44. Moore's second goal of the year provided a big swing, as it came with just 1:14 left before second intermission.

The Eagles had been in similar situations before, having seen several leads collapse in the final frame. But this time, Jones and the defense lent the necessary support to keep the Bulls at bay. A Jordan Morrison goal on the power play at 4:12 gave the fans an opportunity to toss the Teddy Bears they had brought for a toy drive, but the Eagles were the team in control for the majority of play.

"Jones was fresh, and solid. It didn't look like he was going to give up a bad goal this game," Stewart said. "Sometimes when he's been fatigued, we've seen him get down once he lets one in. It didn't look like that (Friday)."

Kevin Ulanski had a pair of assists, and Isaac Smeltzer, Collin Bowman, Jake Marto, Kyle Ostrow and Jack Combs also recorded assists.

Colorado has won all three contests against the Bulls this season, but the two teams meet again tonight.

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